Silicon Valley-backed defense startups surged with billions in funding as geopolitical tensions spiked. Companies like Anduril and Palantir expanded rapidly through 2023 and 2024 on venture capital backing. But recent reports reveal their growth is hitting structural constraints that blunt the returns of their early momentum. These start-ups’ challenges aren’

Average tariffs between the UK and US hover around 2-4%, but strategic barriers ripple deeper than price tags. UK Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch’s visit to the US this week targets critical talks on these tariffs, aiming to clear long-standing trade frictions. This diplomatic move isn’t just traditional negotiation—

Global semiconductor supply chains face escalating tensions as US Justice Department accuses two Chinese men of trying to smuggle Nvidia chips. These chips power advanced AI and computing applications critical to US national security. But this case is not just about enforcement—it's about the expanding role of

US pharmaceutical prices routinely exceed international levels by 2-3x. President Trump is considering a dramatic policy to align US drug prices with global benchmarks, a move that would reshape the healthcare market. This proposed shift isn’t just about reducing costs but resetting the entire leverage structure underpinning drug pricing

India’s auto industry faces unique challenges compared to global giants, especially in AI safety and liability frameworks. The India AI Governance Guidelines, released in 2025 by the Ministry of Electronics & IT under the IndiaAI Mission, set bold new rules governing AI use in vehicles. But this isn’t

Hong Kong stocks have fallen for four straight days, losing more than 1.6% amid fading enthusiasm over interest-rate cuts. The Hang Seng Index dropped 0.4% on Tuesday to 25,662.58, dragging the Hang Seng Tech sector lower as global investors reacted to Wall Street’s pullback. Concerns

Japanese conglomerates often hold diverse asset portfolios, assuming this diversification creates stability. Nittetsu Mining now faces pressure from investor CGIC to sell non-core real estate to fund a share buyback, a move revealing hidden inefficiencies. Conventional wisdom praises asset diversification as risk mitigation. But this ignores how holding non-essential assets

Energy infrastructure deals rarely grab headlines for strategic innovation. BHP just inked a $2 billion funding agreement with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to back the power network of its Western Australian Iron Ore (WAIO) operations. This isn’t just capital allocation — it’s a strategic repositioning of infrastructure ownership that

AI data centers can consume as much electricity as 100,000 homes, with some new facilities projected to reach 20 times that, according to the International Energy Agency. Google Cloud pledged a three-part strategy at the Fortune Brainstorm AI event in San Francisco on December 8, 2025, targeting this unprecedented

Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) has defied global pension norms by delivering a 15% year-to-date return in 2025, on track for the best performance since 2017’s 22.3%. This quarter-century-old system beats inflation and bank deposits for most members, except the most conservative ones, a rare feat

Southeast Asia's digital payments have shattered expectations, hitting a gross transaction value of an estimated US$1.4 trillion in 2025, with digital transactions representing 61% of all regional volume. By the end of 2025, all ASEAN-10 nations will have launched national unified QR payment systems, culminating in

Raising up to HK$1.67 billion ($215 million) through an initial public offering, HashKey Holdings Ltd. aims to cement itself as Hong Kong’s largest licensed crypto exchange. This move stands out in a global crypto market struggling with volatility and regulatory uncertainty. Yet the leverage at work isn’

Cost-efficient multimodal AI at scale remains elusive, with many vision-language models charging $1 to $11+ per million tokens. Z.ai, a Chinese AI startup, just disrupted this space by releasing the GLM-4.6V series in late 2025, including a 106-billion parameter cloud-scale model and a 9-billion parameter low-latency Flash variant.

Europe's regulatory environment imposes fines often exceeding hundreds of millions, dwarfing comparable penalties in the US. The recent EU fine on X, branded a "nasty one" by Donald Trump, exposes deeper geopolitical and operational tensions beyond headline figures. Donald Trump criticized the fine as evidence of

Fast food expansion in Mexico faces fierce competition and high consumer acquisition costs. Alsea, a leading restaurant operator, announced plans to open Raising Cane's locations across Mexico starting in 2026. This move goes beyond adding a new brand—it's about leveraging operational scale to disrupt entrenched

Advanced semiconductors shape global power, yet most Chip export controls ignore nuanced leverage in supply chains. U.S. President Donald Trump reversed course in December 2025, allowing Nvidia to sell its powerful H200 GPUs to “approved customers in China.” This shift abandons previous bans on high-end GPU exports amid geopolitical

The global medical supply market faces persistent margin pressure as large purchasers demand tighter pricing. Medline, the largest privately held medical supplies distributor, is now targeting a $55 billion valuation through its IPO — a move that shifts control of an opaque sector. Medline's IPO in late 2025 repositions

Typical smart glasses projects hinge on flashy hardware and novelty features, but Warby Parker and Google are targeting a far deeper constraint: user adoption by embedding AI-powered intelligence seamlessly into everyday eyewear. Their collaboration, set for a 2026 launch, aims to break the historic bottleneck of smart glasses as cumbersome

Asia faces mounting pressure to accelerate trade settlement cycles amid global calls for modernization. Asian exchanges are exploring shorter settlement windows, but global banks and funds warn this demands substantial new investments. This friction isn’t simply about speed—it highlights the embedded tension between automation benefits and risk controls.

Investor skepticism has long shrouded Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose common stocks languished since the 2008 crisis. Now, Michael Burry — famed for his prescient bets in The Big Short — holds sizable positions in both companies, claiming a re-listing is “nearly upon us.” This isn’t just a bullish wager;

SPAC mergers have become a quick route to public markets, but in Southeast Asia, Grab is flipping the textbook playbook by considering a secondary listing in Singapore after its US SPAC merger. This dual-listing move is not just financial window dressing—it resets regional market constraints in an ecosystem where

Launching smart glasses has long been a costly, fragmented effort costing billions in R&D and supply chain bets. Google is changing that dynamic with upcoming smart glasses powered by the Android XR operating system and the Gemini AI chipset. At its 2025 I/O event, Alphabet’s unit

The use of Bitcoin, Ether, and USDC as collateral in derivatives is a seismic shift for US financial plumbing. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved this change in December 2025, allowing these digital assets to underpin derivatives trades. This isn’t merely regulatory catch-up—it redefines the operating system behind

Thailand’s startup funding scene defies global expectations: where Silicon Valley relies on venture capital firms, Bangkok bets on corporate balance sheets. In 2025, the nation’s innovation economy is powered primarily by massive corporate venture capital funds from banks and conglomerates that dominate deal flow. This shift matters because

The fight against the opioid epidemic involves tens of billions in costs and legal battles. Florida hospitals targeted Walmart, CVS, and Walgreens this year, alleging these giants fueled the crisis. But the recent mistrial in their opioid case reveals it’s not just about blame—it’s about how legal